Girl in the Cowboy Hat
by Cannot Unsee
Summary: An AU about River and how she gets to Serenity...RiverJayne...rated because of later chapters...I'm not really good at this summary...title change...i didn't like the first one
1. A Job

Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly… and if I did well let's just say heaven help the cast and crew.

Author's Notes: Hmmmmm… okay I just want to say if I get good feed-back I'll post more…. This is my first attempt at a chapter story…so don't be angry at me if it takes time to get the next chapters out. Oh and I hate the title so if you guys have any suggestions please tell! ...Oh, oh I almost forgot this is an AU, so some things will be very different…

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The Merc Club

I lay there on the grassy ground under a tree, waiting for the man that had been watching me for the past thirty minutes to approach. A Stetson hiding my face and my gun belt resting on my chest, I could only barely see an impatient face. He huffed as if that would make me move and he walked forward. A couple seconds later I felt a booted toe tap me gentle in the side.

"Hey, I heard at that store you were looking for merc work…" His voice was a bit gruff but I could tell it was just for show. "Hey boy, I'm talking to you…"

I keep my breath even as though I was still sleeping. I pondered on the man. His thoughts were like a desert dry and gruff, but warm with small oases. He wasn't completely happy with having to hire a new merc, but now that his first mate was pregnant he needed the extra muscle. A slow grin spread on my face as he thought how little I was, but the cashier had told him that I was a dangerous hwoon dahn.

"Hellooooooo… Anyone home under there!" He said as he knelt and began tapping me in the shoulder with two fingers. While busy with his tapping he didn't notice, my small hand snake out a knife and hold it at his groin. A second later a sharp intake of breath told me, he felt the metal. "Duh liou mahng!"

My grin widened as my other hand moved my hat from my face, his eyes widened.

"YOU'RE A GIRL!" His voice hitting a higher note and his cheeks turned red as it hit him that a girl probably no more than eighteen years had him in a very compromising situation.

"I'm a girl ,Really?" I asked sarcasm so evident in my voice I was surprised that it didn't burn. I began to sit up, my gun belt sliding from my chest and I finally looked the man in the eye. He reconsidered his first thoughts of me, I _was_ a dangerous little hwoon dahn.

"You mind, I have no malice intended." He said in a voice that, I would guess, would suggest defeat and with gesture at his situation. I grinned, gave him a pert nod and slowly removed my hand and slid the knife in its sheath that was in the inside of my pants on my hip. He stood and looked down at me as I grabbed for my gun belt and fastened it around my hips loosely and rested my beloved hat on my head.

"You here just to talk," I said as a stood with my dancer grace, "Or are you here on business?" I stood as though I was as tall as him and evenly matched if we fought hand to hand. He was probably two heads taller than me and packed with lean muscle.

"Name's _Captain_ Malcolm Reynolds, I own a ship named Serenity." He started out, suddenly at a loss about what to say. I shifted from one foot to the other waiting patiently for the Captain to say more.

"I was wondering if you want a job. You'll get a cut… I mean pay, a room and board and a say about our certain endeavors…" He stopped waiting and watching to see if his meaning got through.

"Hmmm…Well see I got a little proposition of my own then." I said looking at him as I spoke. "I know this guy, my brother actually, that's a great doctor… and I don't go anywhere with out him." I said the last bit with no nonsense.

He looked at me and I looked at him, we had a right good stare down until he finally broke the silence. "Let me go talk to my first mate about this… Where can I find you when I have an answer?"

"My brother and I have a room at the hotel in town. You can just ask the desk clerk." I said a knowing smiling, he had already made his decision and he asked for more time just to regroup.

He started to walk off the wrong direction for town, probably for his ship… Serenity. He stopped and turned, "Hey girl, what's your name?"

I looked at the ground, then back at him, "Name's Tam, River Tam."

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Author's Notes: Please, please review… this story is near and dear to my heart…Oh and if you didn't pick up on this River _loves_ her cowboy hat… 


	2. A Mite Uneasy

Disclaimer: I don't own Firefly… and if I did well let's just say heaven help the cast and crew.

Author's Notes: I'd like to thank those who reviewed. YOU GUYS ROCK! I'd also like to that Lady Cleo for helping me dig myself out of the rut I was in… hope you guys like this chapter…Sorry its so short hopefully the next one will be a lot longer.

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I hurried back to the hotel, hoping that my brother was back from his good-will doctoring. Ever since our parents' death he had been on a crusade to heal everyone he came into contact with. The accident had left my brother an empty, confused mess, ruining his chances at a successful career at the hospital.

I snuck in the back door of the hotel, trying to avoid the manger, which was out for a date with me. My foot hit the first step and I sensed the niou-se that was the manger.

"River, baobei?" An oily voice called from a shadowed corner.

"Go-se!" I whispered under my breath as I slowly, calmly reached for my hip knife hidden in a secret pocket.

"Hun, I thought you and I were going…to ya know…"The manger said with a smile that sent shivers down my spine and made his face even uglier than before.

His arm shot out as if to grab me and something snapped from within. Darkness flowed through my mind with such ferocity my eyes watered. His eyes glazed over as something dark from inside me, something hungry for the pain it caused began to crush him. He jerked as darkness from me consumed his conscious thought ripping throughout his mind. He began to fall to his knees.

/NO/ My conscious mind screamed. Slowly I felt him regain control of his broken mind. His eyes when from glazed to complete pure fear.

Fear shot through me and this time I was scared of myself.

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"Sir, I don't know… What if she can't be trusted?" Zoe's said worried evident in her voice. The small conference of 'commanding peoples', as Wash put it, were in the cockpit of Serenity.

"Zoe, you are pregnant. We need more muscle." Mal said slowly as if talking to a small child. "This girl can be trusted."

"Oh really, Capitan? What gave you that idea? Her great ability to attack you?" Zoe said without taking a breath. Her hand rested on the small swell of her stomach.

Mal huffed as it finally dawned on him, that fighting with a pregnant warrior woman was completely and utterly useless. He crossed his arms over his chest as he listened to what was Zoe's version of hysterical pregnant woman. As she voiced her many other doubts on taking on the girl and her brother, Mal looked over at Jayne. Jayne was quietly pretending he was involved in the one sided argument of Zoe, while actually playing with a small knife.

"Jayne, what do you think?" Mal asked hesitantly, having never asked the other man the question he wondered how the mercenary would answer.

There was a silence, as both Zoe and Mal looked at Jayne and Jayne stared seriously down at the knife.

"I don' know…You're the man with the last word…I just feel a mite uneasy 'bout bringin' these two on." He looked at Mal with an uncertain face, well as much of one a deadly killer could pull off.

Zoe crossed her arms in victory, and looked to Mal with a smug face.

Mal sat heavily on the edge of a consol and looked at his hands. "I'm hirin' them, and there's no more room for discussion."

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Hope you people have the motivation to click the little purple_ review_ button! 


	3. Embarrassment

Disclaimer: If you're still worried about this…well... that scares me!

Author's Notes: Well…hmmmmm…the third chapter…what can I say? Other than Gypsy Lupin- Black beta-ed….and that you should read and review!

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The door swung open and I started for the nearby gun, trying to keep my arm from shaking to violently. A form walked into the dark room where I had been hiding for the last hour.

"Mei-mei… River!" A voice yelled into the small hotel room.

"Simon." I tried to say but instead it came out as an uncontrolled sob. I was horrified by what I had felt, what the Darkness had done. Sure I had killed people as a mercenary but I had always used the conventional methods of guns and bare hands.

By the time my brother had turned on the lights and registered that I was huddled in a corner, my sobs had become so harsh that I couldn't breathe. He rushed to my side and wrapped me in his arms, like he did when I was a little girl and had just scrapped my knee.

"Lao Tyen yeh, Mei-Mei, what's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asked me as he tried to hide the panic in his voice. He attempted to check me without letting go of me.

"N-n-no" I stammered as I gasped for breath and fresh tears welled in my eyes. I looked through watery eyes at my brother, wondering if I would ever be able to find someone who could love me knowing everything I had done.

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"Mal, I don't understand why I had to come along to fetch these two." Jayne whined like only Jayne could as they slowly entered the now dark town, Jayne trailing behind Mal.

"Cause…" Mal looked back to Jayne to emphasize his point; "…I want to see if she has enough nerve to attack you." A few seconds later Jayne and Mal where walking up the front steps of the small hotel that the girl had said she was staying.

A desk clerk was lazing behind the desk as the two opened the door and looked around.

"May I help you sirs?" The young man said has he snapped to attention, having gotten guff for not doing so the last time men with the same hardened look had come in.

"Yeah… you can..." Mal said as he strolled up to the small desk and equally small man. "What room is River Tam and her brother in?"

The clerk notably flinched when Mal had said the girl's name as if a he had been punched. He nervously looked at Jayne who was stoically standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Sir, you wanna be careful around that girl- she's dangerous… Just to-today sh-she a-attacked m-m-my boss…" He sputtered as he watched the staircase behind Mal in apprehension.

"Hmmm… most women are, son." Mal said shaking his head as he remembered the murderous glare that Zoe had given him as he left the ship. He heard Jayne snort behind him and could sense the cocky grin spread on the mercenary's face.

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"River, I don't understand why I have to hide in the _bathroom_!" Simon growled harshly at me as I pushed him into the small bathroom and shut the door quickly, grabbing a nearby chair and setting it against the knob.

He began to knock on the door rapidly after he had tried to open the door as I quickly grabbed my gun belt and messed up the two small beds as though someone had been in them and turned out the gas lamp so the room was in total darkness.

"Shut it Simon! They're coming!" I hissed at the bathroom door and the knocking abruptly stopped. I silently crept to the right side of the door, ready to play the Capitan's little game.

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"Number fourteen… here it is." Mal muttered to Jayne as the mercenary walked on the balls of his feet toward the door. Mal stood calmly in the hallway, a grin plastered to his face. He watched as Jayne produced a small key the clerk had given them. Jayne slowly unlocked the door, turned the knob silently. And soundlessly, the door slid open.

Within half a heart beat, Mal heard a grunt and something slam heavily onto the floor.

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I straddled the man's waist and held one of my small knives to his throat. Large hands engulfed my waist in an attempt yank me off him. I smiled as I felt embarrassment and rage burn in the man's mind. He grunted in defeat as he saw my smile.

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A/N: If you don't review this you will regret it for the rest of your life! hehe...

OH! And the translations are:

Lao Tyen yeh (Jesus)

Mei-Mei (little sister)


	4. You Gonna Stiff Me?

Well here is the next addition to this slow move saga… Hope you enjoy!

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"Woah, woah little girl don't need you killin' my merc…" The Captain said from the doorway a smirk spread across his face as he watched the big man /_his name was…Jason…no…Jake…no,Jan?/_ squirm underneath me.

"Tyen-sah, Mal! You knew she would…get me didn't you!?" The unnamed man asked trying not to let a seemingly all too common whine escape but failing miserably as he attempted to pry me from his hips. While he was wriggling like a fish between my legs I felt a tickle of attraction and then like a train hitting some poor animal on the tracks the heat of pure lust hit me. My traitor face began to burn with a furious blush as thoughts of me and memories of other women filter through my mind from the man beneath me.

"Mei-Mei?" Simon called through the bathroom door. I dared a quick glance at the door but returned a hopefully steely gaze at the mercenary on the floor. I felt strong waves of fear and worry from my brother and rolled my eyes without even thinking about the impression I might be making on my possible employer.

"Is that the Doc you told me about?" Captain Reynolds asked ignoring the fact that Jayne /_yes that was his name/_ and I were still on the floor. I decided that from Jayne's thoughts there would be no retribution at the current moment for besting him and slowly stood, returning my blade to the small hip pocket.

"Yeah, that's my brother… He's not much of a fighter, but he's the best ai ya doctor in the 'verse…" I said with pride as I turned to the Captain, the burning of embarrassment on my face hopefully ebbing away.

The Captain nodded, "Well, we'll see about that, little girl." As he watched his merc's face warily while the big man sifted his gun belt, having returned to his feet.

"Mei-Mei, are you going to let me out of here now?" Simon called again irritation in his voice this time. He thumped the door loudly as I walked over to it keeping my steps light just in case of another 'test' attack from the two men. "I thought you said these _men_ are giving to you a _job_." He muttered as I moved the chair aside, unlocked and opened the door.

"He don't _look_ like any special doctor to me." The big man known as Jayne said at first sight of my brother. "Kinda looks like one o' those pansies from the Core."

I snored and smiled when he said this. My dear brother still wore his fine and very expensive looking suits, even though I had explained at great lengths why that was not such a great idea around these parts of the 'verse. _/My brother the boob!/_ Simon's jaw clenched the first sign of his anger starting to flare, I gave him a warning glare as I walked to the middle of the room.

"Now you quit pickin', Jayne, it wouldn't hurt you none to take a shower once in a while." Captain Mal said a wicked look on his face. Suddenly the wicked boyish look was replaced by a grim expression as he walked over the threshold of the small room and shut the door quietly. I tried to see what was going on in his mind, but all I sensed was that arid desert of his, so I stood my ground and looked him in the eye.

"_These_ are the people you want to work with mei-mei…they look disreputable." Simon said out right looking between the large man named Jayne and the wiry Captain. Jayne's eyebrow knitted together in uncertainty as soon as the last word left my brother's lips.

The Captain's grin returned to his lips as he watched Jayne try to puzzle through the last word that Simon had used.

"No matter that we're dis-reppie-table we don't want her…" Jayne growled at Simon with distaste laboring through the word the best he could, "Do we Mal?" He asked as he finally turned his attention to the Captain. I could feel Jayne's mind almost dead set against working with the woman who had just whooped the gao se out of him.

I squared my shoulders still looking start into the Captain's eyes. One thing I did know about this man was that he didn't let anyone push him around, especially his hired mercenary. "So what's it goin' be Captain?" I asked ignoring my idiot of a brother glaring at who he now was terming an ape-man… where my dear brother got that I will never know.

"Well now Jayne, I think I might actually give this little spitfire a chance on our next job. If she does well we might just keep her… Now I don't know about her brother here…but I suppose if we give spitfire a chance, we might as well give her fancy doctor brother one too…" He said this all to Jayne without taking the measuring stare of his off my brother and I. Jayne huffed and I swear for a second I saw the face of the little boy he once was flash through my mind.

"But Mal…" Jayne whine, dragging out the Captain's name. I had taken my eyes off the two to take a moment to see how my brother had taken the off-hand job offer. And I was shocked to see that he was already thinking about what he needed to pack. The Captain was muttering harshly to the large mercenary informing him who was actually in charge.

"Wait a minute!" I started, "How much is my cut going to be?" I looked at the Captain with a grin, "Or are you going to try and stiff me?" I added with a snort at the double meaning, a bit of my sarcasm showing through.

"Hmmmm…now let's see…how about ten percent for you and three for your brother, here? Mind you, I might increase his pay if I think he's a good 'nough doctor." Mal said this as he leaned against the wall and hooker his thumbs in his suspenders. I tried not to grin as I nodded my head in agreement to his terms, they were a better deal than any of my other jobs.

"When can you leave?" The Captain asked inspecting the small room with the two small beds and small trunks at the ends of each. His eyes rested on the still sulking mercenary, who at the moment was glowering at my brother. Simon was shifting a startled look from me to the other two occupants of the room.

"Ummmm… the boo- I mean- my brother will put up a fight for a few seconds, then he and I'll pack, that will take about fifteen minutes… We'll be ready to leave in about thirty minutes."

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Now this is when you hit that little review button and tell me what you think! 


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